一年一度的中秋佳节又来临，众商家“月饼大战”硝烟四起，从“天价”月饼到“保健”月饼，从“文化”牌打到“世博”牌，花样繁多，噱头不断。商场地摊，大街小巷，电视电台，报纸网络，到处是月饼促销的海洋。还有好事者举办什么“吃月饼大赛”，也不怕重油厚脂的月饼把人噎着腻着，一口气上不来。以至于人们误以为这中秋节过的就是“月饼节”了，甚至还出现“先有月饼还是先有中秋节”的争论，似乎这中秋与月饼也成了鸡与蛋的悖论。 　　蕴含丰富文化魅力与厚重历史沉淀，象征丰收团圆亲情美满的中秋节与中秋月饼，于今沦落为商战、官场的道具与噱头，充斥了利益铜臭的气息，不知到底是传统节日的悲哀，还是月饼的悲哀，抑或是我们今人的悲哀。 　　当月饼寄寓的传统文化元素不再，当作为“团圆节”的中秋佳节只剩下月饼，沦陷为利益场博弈的“月饼节”，甚至被“月饼节”所取代，不知这样的中秋节还有多少“文化”内核与价值寄托，还有什么值得人们去传承与弘扬？中秋节到了，你还想吃月饼吗?

　　【Background information】　　The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people, dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. It was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. 　　The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties. 　　The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice, and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos under the moon together. 　　Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as: 　　Putting pomelo rinds on one's head 　　Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns 　　Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e (Chinese: 嫦娥) 　　Planting Mid-Autumn trees 　　Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members 　　Fire Dragon Dances 　　In Taiwan, since the 1980s, barbecuing meat outdoors has become a widespread way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

　　Shops selling mooncakes before the festival often display pictures of Chang'e floating to the moon.

　　【大话生词】

　　Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival中秋节，这里Festival也可替换成Day.

　　calendar n.1. 日历, 月历2. 日程表3. （一年之中的）重大事件（或重要日期）一览表 4. 历法

　　equinox n.昼夜平分点,春分或秋分

　　lantern n.1. 灯笼2. 灯塔